The United States for the first time dropped the “smart” aerial bomb GBU-53 StormBreaker from a carrier-based bomber

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The U.S. Navy has successfully tested the new all-weather bomb GBU-53 StormBreaker. The bomb was first launched from the F / A-18E / F "Super Hornet" carrier-based bomber fighter aviation U.S.A.

During the tests, the bomb was launched from an airplane, after which it was aimed at the desired target thanks to the guidance data received from the airplane. It is the presence of a three-mode homing head that experts call the main distinguishing feature of the new StormBreaker bomb. Detection and tracking of the target is due to a special infrared radar. The bomb also uses a semi-active laser and GPS navigation.



Another very important feature of the bomb is the possibility of its use in any weather conditions, as well as in situations of difficult visibility. Moreover, poor visibility in the maritime coverage area can be used by the F / A-18E / F Super Hornet pilots to their advantage.

StormBreaker is the only one weaponwhich allows pilots to hit moving targets in bad weather or in the presence of dust and smoke in the area,

- emphasizes Christie Stagg, director of the StormBreaker program at Raytheon's missile and defense department.

For a long time, it was bad weather, which worsened visibility, that was considered as the main obstacle to the actions of fighter and bomber aircraft. But now, with the advent of the "all-weather bomb" in the arsenal of American naval aviation, this problem can be solved.


The undoubted advantage of the bomb is its range of application: StormBreaker destroys enemy targets at a distance of more than 45 miles (72 km). This circumstance protects American pilots from being too close to enemy positions. Thereby, the risks of the aircraft launching the bomb falling under return fire are reduced.

It is worth noting the small size of the "smart" GBU-53 StormBreaker. This allows each aircraft to take several bombs on board at once, which increases the effectiveness of sorties and helps to reduce the number of aircraft needed to hit designated targets. For example, an F-15E aircraft can carry up to 28 of these bombs.

Note that before the new bombs were delivered to the naval aviation of the Navy, they received the aircraft of the US Air Force. In the Air Force, the GBU-53 StormBreaker is armed with F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft. In 2022, the U.S. military department, together with the development company Raytheon, plan to integrate aircraft bombs with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

However, do not forget about certain problems that the implementation of the StormBreaker program has encountered. Thus, vibrations from an aircraft carrying bombs during flight resulted in breakdowns of parts that fixed the four tail fin of the bomb.

Another obstacle to the timely delivery of bombs into service was the inconsistency in the supply of boards used in the manufacture of a homing system. The company, which supplied the boards as a contractor to Raytheon Corporation, announced the termination of their production. Therefore, now the American leadership has set the task of ordering the required boards by December 2020.
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  1. +6
    16 June 2020 10: 44
    Detection and tracking of the target is due to a special infrared radar. The bomb also uses a semi-active laser and GPS navigation.

    This is where I hovered: what are "infrared radar" and "semi-active laser"?
    1. +10
      16 June 2020 11: 05
      In fact, the bomb has an infrared homing head, laser guidance (semi-active, on a marker from an external source) and a millimeter-range homing radar. Plus GPS and the ability to external control.
      1. +2
        16 June 2020 11: 17
        I understand that the translator hooligan)
      2. 5-9
        +1
        16 June 2020 15: 35
        Is it by chance no more expensive with all this beauty than 90% of typical goals?
        The size and power is maaaahonkoy .... looked 195 pieces of bucks, a quarter of a lama with RiD .... A tank isn’t a fact that you’re fucking crazy ... Toyochanka with a machine gun and armored personnel carriers of her target ... although they can leave, part of the bonba , not a rocket ..
        Yes, and shoot down the shell - that’s it ...
    2. +2
      16 June 2020 11: 54
      just a clumsy translation, the laser cannot be semi-active, and the gos can
    3. 0
      17 June 2020 12: 17
      similarly ..
  2. PPD
    -3
    16 June 2020 10: 46
    Weatherproof bomb!
    What technique has reached!?! good
    THOSE. Now can the BNBU be thrown into the light rain? laughing
    It can’t be, the draw is probably .... wassat
    1. 0
      16 June 2020 11: 06
      Guided bomb. I would like to see how other UAB for a point target will be dumped with rain, fog or a dust storm
  3. -1
    16 June 2020 10: 51
    Well, it's time to be afraid, it's a miracle - a judo with a semi-active laser. A distance of 75 kilometers is inaccessible to our air defense, well, not at all. Even for systems of the seventieth years of release.
    1. +2
      16 June 2020 10: 57
      Quote: tralmaster
      A distance of 75 kilometers is inaccessible to our air defense, well, not at all.

      Not all potential targets of these miracle bombs are covered by the S-300 and similar long-range weapons. If only "Pantsiri", "Torah" and "Buki" are nearby, 72 km may be sufficient.
      1. +2
        16 June 2020 11: 23
        Quote: Kalmar

        Not all potential targets of these miracle bombs are covered by the S-300 and similar long-range weapons. If only "Pantsiri", "Torah" and "Buki" are nearby, 72 km may be sufficient.

        For example, strike at the ur, which must attack the SV. With such capabilities, the bombing can be very dense.
      2. +2
        16 June 2020 12: 15
        Quote: Kalmar
        If only "Pantsiri", "Torah" and "Buki" are nearby, 72 km may be quite sufficient.
        I wonder why everyone writes only about the fact that only the medium will be inaccessible? The covered targets attack, the attack is carried out by bombs, which lack not only engines, but also accelerators, so the Shells and Thors should have enough time for their detection and destruction! This is if an unexpected attack, and if it is expected, thanks to surveillance and warning systems, then there is nothing to talk about. Well, and if we talk about media, then this is the case of S-300-500 smile
        1. +4
          16 June 2020 12: 54
          Quote: businessv
          I wonder why everyone writes only about the fact that only the medium will be inaccessible?

          First, the carrier, unlike a bomb, is not disposable (ideally, anyway). Secondly, sooner or later, the bomb will have to be at the very goal, but the carrier can still be saved from this unpleasant fate.

          Quote: businessv
          the attack is carried out by bombs, which lack not only engines, but also accelerators

          And this is partly a plus: much less visibility in the infrared range. Combined with the low RCS, this makes it difficult to detect the bomb. Plus, do not forget about electronic warfare, false targets and other tricks, and now "Armor" / "Toram" is getting hot.
      3. 5-9
        +1
        16 June 2020 15: 43
        Somehow 72 km is probably provided by a throw from kilometers from 10 to 1000 km / h .... and this is for a fixed target.
    2. 0
      16 June 2020 11: 37
      Not all objects are covered by air defense, and 75 km is a fairly large distance. In addition, such factors as suddenness, active interference, military luck (bad luck) have not been canceled. Absolute weapons do not exist, but they will always strive to create them.
    3. -1
      16 June 2020 12: 13
      Well, it's time to be afraid, it's a miracle - a judo with a semi-active laser. A distance of 75 kilometers is inaccessible to our air defense, well, not at all. Even for systems of the seventieth years of release.
      \

      I agree. This problem will have to be solved for sure.
      But do not forget about strategy and opportunities. This bomb flies into the object of the Syrians and, apart from the noise in the press, the world sees nothing. Such a bomb will fly into our facility (on purpose), most likely a couple of airfields that launched the bomb will die. (Well, purely hypothetically, of course, exaggerated, so to speak).
    4. 0
      17 June 2020 12: 28
      In order for it to fly 75 km, it must be dropped from at least 10, or even more km. And there the S-300 takes from far away! Further, what is semi-active there? Laser? What is it like? Okay, let it be a semi-active seeker, so the target needs to be highlighted, and up to-o-olgo! Barmaley will not cut through the lights, but normal guys should. Its flight speed is so-so, in the end, even Shilka will most likely "take" it. All-weather can only be provided by a radar on board either the bomb itself or a target designator, but this irradiation is not even a stealth, but like a beacon at night. In general, its advantages are not very obvious, so what would be the activity to represent, the budget to master. We have a "Vanguard" without an engine on hypersound flies, and even maneuvers within wide limits. In the cartoon. Here, too, apart from the cartoon, there is nothing ...
      1. 0
        17 June 2020 12: 49
        Quote: Ilya_Nsk
        And there S-300 takes from a distant far!

        As already said, for starters, this same S-300 in the vicinity must be got hold of.

        Quote: Ilya_Nsk
        let there be a semi-active GOS, then the goal needs to be highlighted, and do-o-olgo!

        Why long? At first, the bomb can simply fly towards the target, and the illumination is turned on already on approach, so that it corrects itself. In my opinion, our "Krasnopol" is similarly arranged.

        Quote: Ilya_Nsk
        as a result, even Shilka is likely to "take" it

        If able to detect.

        Quote: Ilya_Nsk
        but this radiation is not even a stelt, but like a lighthouse in the night

        The radar can be switched on for a short time, literally in separate pulses, along which it will be difficult to hit a bomb.

        Quote: Ilya_Nsk
        In general, its advantages are not very obvious, so what would the activity depict, the budget to master

        With this approach, you can paint almost any PSA as useless.

        Quote: Ilya_Nsk
        We have an "Avangard" without an engine flying on hypersonic

        There is reason to believe that something accelerates it before this hypersound itself. Maybe even an engine. But it is not exactly.

        Quote: Ilya_Nsk
        There is also nothing besides the cartoon ..

        It is so plausible enough: no revolutionary and "has-no-analogues-in-the-world" technologies are not visible in this bomb, so it is quite realizable.
  4. +1
    16 June 2020 11: 09
    Whatever you say, the argument is serious.
  5. 0
    16 June 2020 11: 35
    and how much is the price-thousand 500 greens?
    1. +2
      16 June 2020 12: 13
      and how much is the price-thousand 500 greens?

      For solving combat missions - a penny
      1. +1
        16 June 2020 12: 15
        for example, for the equipment of a penny hospital?
        1. +1
          16 June 2020 12: 18
          for example, for the equipment of a penny hospital?

          The money allocated to the bomb will NEVER go to hospital equipment. No matter how much the bomb costs.
          1. +1
            16 June 2020 12: 53
            A BOMB IN THE WAREHOUSE WILL BE 10 YEARS OLD, and then it will heal people’s equipment in scrap, it’s just an example
            1. +4
              16 June 2020 13: 37
              and the equipment of people heals, so just an example

              I see that you are a good-natured person. But if you don’t think about how to occupy the medical facilities of a potential enemy, then our doctors will not cope with the flow of our wounded, and the funeral teams are tormented by burying the irreparable losses.
              1. 0
                16 June 2020 17: 39
                Well, or this bomb, as an option, will go to the hospital
    2. 0
      16 June 2020 13: 53
      Quote: Charik
      and how much is the price-thousand 500 greens?

      It should not be much less than the price of an air-to-surface missile, which has a longer range.
    3. 5-9
      +1
      16 June 2020 15: 44
      Only 200 ... but she has a size with ATGM ...
  6. 0
    16 June 2020 11: 49
    Smart bomb GBU-53 StormBreaker
    Well, now there is very little left - to acquire a smart president and congressmen, to get rid of frostbitten generals, so that smart bombs do not fall on another country.
  7. 0
    16 June 2020 12: 28
    The bomb must be very accurate, it has a fin.
  8. +1
    16 June 2020 14: 01
    "How did the testing of the new version of the smart bomb go, Corporal?"
    “No way, sir! .. She is very smart, sir! .. She didn’t want to die, and we couldn’t push her out of the plane, sir! ..
    (C)
  9. 5-9
    0
    16 June 2020 15: 29
    thanks to special infrared Radiolocator

    Thanks author, thanks google translator!

    Something not really like IL-GOS and a semi-active laser help in bad weather
  10. -1
    16 June 2020 17: 56
    GOS is outstanding. Russia is not yet capable of doing such things. Although for our "Thunders", she seemed to be lost
  11. 0
    16 June 2020 23: 35
    What a twisted plot, both fighters and bombers have problems flying in bad weather and only a smart bomb can fly always!
  12. +2
    17 June 2020 01: 28
    Dear Ilya Polonsky!
    If you are writing on such an interesting subject - well, what prevents you from getting a little closer acquainted with the subject that you are describing? After all, there are a lot of materials on the network, read - do not be lazy! And then - write ...
    The GBU-53B bomb has 4 (four) guidance modes:
    1. Preview - using GPS navigation.
    2. At the final stage - the active radar seeker of the millimeter range.
    3. Thermal GOS.
    4. Semi-active laser seeker.
    The last three modes are selected depending on the conditions of the environment and the capabilities of the medium - if there is cloud cover, fog, smoke or haze - an active RSSS is used.
    If visibility allows, you can use a thermal imaging seeker (similar to a video camera in a smartphone). If there is a possibility of laser illumination of the target on the plane, you can use the semi-active mode with laser illumination - it will be the most accurate - the pilot himself will choose the target that he needs ...

    Generally: more careful work on the material.
  13. 0
    17 June 2020 23: 46
    As an application option, I see the most clear as follows - we have a pack of small UAVs (target load of the ECO + IR illumination complex) + a bomb carrier (a bomber or MFI does not play a role) somewhere that is also baraging or flying at the right time to the launch distance. After the UAV has found targets in the area of ​​application, the bomb carrier receives the coordinates of the targets and goes to the distance of launch and sends out planning bombs. Then everything is just from the bomb carrier the date is sent when each of the missiles arrives in the region so that the UAVs illuminate the target when the ammunition approaches.
    Why I see such an application is simple - everything is in such a complex that we eliminate the shortcomings of UAV strike - that is, a low bomb load, low speed and high visibility (if it is a large shock UAV).
    Also, ground forces can illuminate targets, and a bomb carrier will simply paralyze in the area of ​​the operation.

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